Public Officials | The Nation
Who Will Succeed Budget Director?
The Obama Cabinet will endure its first major turnover this summer when Office of Management and Budget Director Peter R. Orszag leaves. Orszag's departure has long been rumored, so there is no shortage of contenders to succeed him.MORE:
Washington Post
Health Nominee Faces Confirmation Fight
A confirmation battle has erupted over Donald M. Berwick, President Obama's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid, who has spoken of the need to ration health care and confessed to a love affair with the British health-care system.MORE:
New York Times
Ex-Aides: Blagojevich Often Was MIA
Rod Blagojevich may have been governor of Illinois, but he often appeared to do everything but run the state, dwelling instead on his political fortunes and his family's finances, two former top aides to Blagojevich testified at his political-corruption trial.MORE:
Chicago Tribune

Finance | Phoenix
Sales-Tax Take Up for First Time in 3 Years
Phoenix is reporting positive year-over-year growth in sales-tax collections for the first time in three years, a sign to officials that the city is on the road to economic recovery. April sales-tax collections were up 1.7 percent compared to the same month last year.MORE:
Arizona Republic
New Jersey Governor, Lawmakers Have Budget Deal
A $29.4 billion New Jersey budget compromise softens some cuts affecting the poor, the disabled and students while preserving most of Gov. Chris Christie's biggest cuts.MORE:
Newark Star-Ledger

Technology | The Nation
GSA Launches Shiftto Cloud-Based Computing
To the General Services Administration, the future of federal computing is in the cloud. GSA has issued a request for proposals to replace PC-based programs with a single, integrated Web-based solution for e-mail, instant messaging and online conferencing.
MORE:
Federal Times
30 States to Probe Google's Data-Gathering
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal plans to head up a 30-state investigation into Google's Wi-Fi data-gathering scandal. French officials said a review of data collected there revealed that e-mail addresses and passwords were recorded by Google.MORE:
CNET News

Emergency Services | Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County, Mich.
City, County Consolidate 911 Dispatching
All 911 calls in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County are now being routed to the same place. In a strategy aimed at streamlining services and saving money, the city and county emergency dispatch staffs are now working out of one central downtown dispatch center.MORE:
Government Technology

Public Pensions | California
CalPERS Investing in British Airport
The California Public Employees' Retirement System has committed up to $155 million to buy a 12.7 percent stake in London's Gatwick Airport, representing one of the first major deals for CalPERS' three-year-old infrastructure-investment program.MORE:
Sacramento Bee

R. Seth Williams

Law Enforcement | Philadelphia
New DA's Mantra: 'Smart on Crime'
Violence-weary Philadelphia's new district attorney vows not to get tough on crime but to get "smart on crime." But while R. Seth Williams' move to downgrade penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana have caught the public eye, legal experts say other changes Williams is making are far more important.MORE:
New York Times

About 32,000
Number of state and local government workers in Ohio who are continuing to work for government after retiring and who collected more than $1 billion in pension payouts last year on top of their paychecks
Cleveland Plain Dealer| More data

QUOTABLE

“We want to rally the nation around the new buying power of $2.”David Ovens, Taco Bell's top marketing executive, on advertising the company is running urging the federal government to resume printing $2 bills, an effort that just happens to coincide with the chain's promotion of a $2 meal deal
Washington Post| More quotes

ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

Economic Recovery | Paul Krugman
Shortchangingthe Economy
Spend now, while the economy remains depressed; save later, once it has recovered. How hard is that to understand? Very hard, if the current state of political debate is any indication. All around the world, politicians seem determined to do the reverse.MORE:
New York Times